Effective businesses require the right processes to remain productive. On these pages, we commonly discuss how to implement some of these processes so you have what you need to help your business grow. Companies all over the world put in place many different measures to ensure that they operate at peak efficiency, from extra customer service personnel to automated services to outsourcing. One such process you must consider if you haven’t already implemented it is cloud computing. It’s a great way to streamline and improve the operations of a business because it enables staff to share and collaborate on documents via the Internet from anywhere while maintaining security over them.
Cloud computing also provides your business with a bit more clout because you can offer remote working to people where you wouldn’t have been able to offer that previously. This benefit provides more flexibility to attract the best workers and to outsource more effectively to third parties. Many modern tech companies, for instance, use a distributed workforce that employs the right talent regardless of where that talent is located. You might even find you can reduce costs through cloud computing by using workers in low-wage companies.
Knowing that you partner with a company that offers a cloud contact center can also attract better collaborative partners because you constantly have help behind the scenes to manage your information via the cloud. If you are still on the fence as to whether or not cloud computing is the right choice for your business, we’ve got some of the best reasons below for which you should consider investing.
What is cloud computing?
Simply, cloud computing refers to storing data and documents on the internet rather than on a local computer or a computer network. As you can see from the image at the top of this post, cloud computing is really just a visual representation of ways that users can access the cloud. For instance, using a mobile device, a salesperson can get up-to-the-minute inventory levels to ensure multiple salespeople aren’t selling the same inventory to different customers. An employee who works from home can share documents and timelines with co-workers in other locations to ensure a project progresses toward on-time completion. A worker in India can update code to fix a bug on the company’s mainframe.
In today’s world, you likely use the cloud on a daily basis for both personal and business applications such as checking your bank balance, filling out a digital timecard, accessing company databases, and even storing your documents on Google Drive. Many companies you do business with now offer their software solutions as a cloud-based product rather than a download to reduce demands for local storage and ease the update process when new versions are ready.
What’s behind the switch to cloud computing?
One reason we see so much growth in cloud computing is the reduced costs associated with data storage. While in the past, storing massive amounts of data online meant spending a lot of money, newer solutions, such as AWS, make it feasible for almost any company to operate in the cloud. The pandemic certainly sped up the process as companies quickly pivoted to working from home, which meant workers needed effective ways to communicate with each other and share work when they weren’t housed in a single location.
Cloud computing really took off with the growth of big data. Storing massive amounts of data on a local system was awkward and required expensive servers. It also meant that workers didn’t have quick access to reports generated from their data. For instance, a local store manager couldn’t answer questions about how her sales of a particular item last year compared with nearby stores without submitting a query to corporate. Armed with this data with the touch of a button, she can better predict future sales to match buying to demand in her store.
A final rationale for the growth of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning). These tools help businesses make sense of the massive data they collect to run functions such as online chat to reduce costs and increase service to customers.
Why you need cloud computing
- You will reduce your business costs. It can cost a lot of money to manage the data for your business because you need to buy equipment and employ people who can manage it and install it for you. When you choose cloud computing solutions though, you can pick and choose the services that are right for your business in terms of users, storage, and features. This helps you to save money by going to a partner who will work with you to develop a tailored solution.
- You have the chance to improve your business flexibility. Cloud computing gives you and your staff the ability to work from any location. This flexibility can make your business better than it ever was before and support future growth. You can give your employees more flexible working arrangements, which they will thank you for, and you will even reduce your costs for the office and all of your equipment. It’s so important that you look at what you are doing in support of your agility and flexibility and then figure out a way that you could do more. Cloud computing to help you do that.
- Cloud computing can help you to scale your business. Is growth what you are after? When your business grows and needs to expand, the computing capabilities also need to go with it. Traditional systems mean buying and keeping extra licenses and servers which also means spending more money. Cloud computing systems can be scaled far easier just by upgrading your current storage and features and that only takes a few minutes.
- Your data is more secure. Hackers have a lot to answer for, but when it comes to data you need to ensure it’s as secure as possible. As long as you have an Internet connection, any data saved on your cloud is protected by the cloud vendor; often a larger company with the resources for better security. Unlike your own computers, these vendors pay careful attention to security upgrades to ensure data integrity. If you have adequate cyber security systems in place, any data stored in the cloud remains accessible even if you’re hit with ransomware installed by a bad actor. Instead of shutting down your hospital or city government, you simply download stored data onto local computers and continue operations.
Conclusion
Cloud computing makes a lot of sense, even for small businesses. Consider the arguments above to help you reach the right decision about the cloud.
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